The Game for the Conference All Came Down to the Last Second

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn

Paul Sembower | October 31, 2026

Week 10 and it all comes down to this for the conference championship. Belle Vernon versus Elizabeth Forward to determine who will be the champion of the 3A Interstate conference.

Belle Vernon starts with the ball and utilizes the run game the most. The Warrior defense holds up strong. They force the Leopards to punt with 3:55 left in the first quarter.

On the first play of the Warriors’ offensive drive, Kaden Allen finds an open lane and explodes for a 98-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 7-0 Warriors.

The Warriors’ defense holds up again and forces the Leopards to punt.

Another successful offense drive had the Warriors moving quickly downfield and to cap it off, Allen connected with Dolekary for a passing touchdown and made the score 14-0.

If you’ve been following the story then you can guess where this is going, the Warriors’ defense held up strong again and forced the Leopards to punt.

The Leopards decided to flip the script, they stopped the Warriors for the first time tonight and forced them to punt.

With time running out in the half, the Leopards had to make a move, Chace Petrosky got the hand off and ran up the middle for the Leopards first points of the night, 14-7 Elizabeth Forward leads.

The clock winded down and the first half expired.

The second half started off with an explosive play on the kick return and a 75-yard touchdown from Travis Dusi put the Warriors up 21-7 to start the second half

The Warriors defense immediately answered and stopped the Leopards dead in their tracks. The Leopards punted.

The Warriors were stopped once again and kicked a field goal, but it went wide left.

The Leopards started off the 4th quarter with a bang, Petrosky ran the ball in for a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14.

The Warriors’ offense was stopped short again and another missed field goal attempt kept the score the same.

The Leopards were moving quickly, then on a passing attempt, the pass was punched out of the receivers’ hands by Aiden Hicks and Chase Moser jumped on the ball to give the Warriors the ball with 2 minutes remaining in the game. Rocco Thompson charged into the end zone to put the Warriors up 28-14.

Belle Vernon wasn’t done yet, a late touchdown with 1:15 left to play put the score at 28-21.

The next kick was an onside kick and Belle Vernon miraculously recovered. The pass was completed and Petrosky pulled the Leopards inside the end zone.

Petrosky ran into the end zone for a touchdown, and the Leopards went for two, and completed it. 29-28, the Leopards lead with 0:45 seconds left.

It all comes down to this, one drive for the Warriors. They marched down field and put themselves within the 35-yard line. It all came down to one kick as the c crowd got louder and louder. The snap was good, the hold was good, the kick, no good.

Belle Vernon closes out their season with a huge win in a moment that you make up in a game with your friends in your backyard.

The Leopards are conference champions and head into the playoffs with a 9-1 record after defeating the Warriors 29-28, in a game they were behind for forty-seven minutes and twenty-five seconds.

Now that’s the definition of a buzzer beater.